DAY THIRTY NINE:
peanuty broccoli cabbage cucumber sesame seed slaw & fast fry garlic steak…crunchy, super filling and really nice together
DAY THIRTY EIGHT:
Oh yes, the Mediterranean Grilled Salad…this was a good one!
grilled chicken thighs + grilled veggies : baby eggplant, zucchini & red pepper + pan crisped garlic + anchovies + avocado slices + wedged tomato + fresh torn basil leaves + red onion + red leaf lettuce + balsamic & honey dressing
DAY THIRTY THREE:
Roast Beef + Caramelized Onions + Broccoli + Fresh Corn Kernels + Diced Tomatoes + Avocado + Green Onion + Red Leaf Lettuce + Balsamic Dressing….The guys had roast beef dip and caramelized onions and corn on the cob….My salad was fresh, crunchy, very filling & satisfying 🙂 Those onions were amazing on it! Olive-oily oniony goodness apparently goes really nicely on a salad! I really liked the contrast between the savoury roast beef and onions and the sweet crispy corn kernels that were sliced off the cob…
DAY THIRTY TWO:
garlic thyme roast beef on red leaf lettuce, mushrooms, red peppers, tomatoes, avocado & white onion with balsamic dressing
So tonight I roasted an outside round roast for dinner – we getting down to the smaller, “tougher” roasts left over from our 1/2 cow we bought (what a GREAT decision we made there! organic grass-fed beef from a local farmer, it’s been awesome. The meat is amazing, I love that it’s from a healthy happy cow and that we were able to support a local real live person and their family. If you’re on the fence about making the investment, it’s been far cheaper too. And, to seal the deal, lots of great studies out there showing that grass-fed beef is way better for your, beyond the hormone/antibiotic/yucky stuff, but actually nutrient wise, which makes sense, we all are what we eat! Recommend!!)….so I roasted it using my fav method, to first slather it in a paste of minced garlic, extra virgin olive oil, lots of salt & pepper and dried thyme), then I roast it for 1/2 an hour at 450 degrees, then turn down the oven to 300 degrees and roast for one hour more, until it reaches 145 degrees. I then take it out and let it rest for about 20 minutes (or more) and it’s *perfect*, super tender, so good, and it works with all inexpensive cuts of meat! So the guys were going to have beef dip & carmalized onions – but plans changed and it wound up being just me for dinner, so I sliced off some beautiful thin slices and had it on my salad. Very good! Even better??!!! Dinner for tomorrow is already done, whoohoo! LOL!
DAY THIRTY ONE:
Bolognese (zuch., carrot, celery, mushroom, onion, garlic, tomatoes, ground beef) Sauce on Steamed Green Bean and Spinach Salad….?!….Welllll…yes, stretching the limits on the definition of “salad” with this one….BUT! There is a reason – made Spaghetti Bolognese for the guys tonight, so I put my sauce atop a bed of spinach (see those little leafies poking out the edges?!) and some steamed green beans….So green beans and spaghetti sauce always makes me a little nostalgic, lol, because, this was where it all began for me. My first baby steps into eating better were replacing SOME of my man-sized full plate of spaghetti with a green beans. I would have half and half, noodles and beans mixed together. As time went by, less and less pasta on the plate, more and more beans. Till the day came when I gave up pasta completely, which became easy because I genuinely enjoyed the beans and sauce and didn’t miss the noodles at all. I know there are other options out there, rice noodles or even the shirataki noodles, but, the shirataki’s are a little too pricey for me (everything I do has to be sustainable financially! lol!), and this time of the day, I don’t need the carbs of rice noodles. I like my veggies and protein, it works for me, my body works well this way, so I’m happy 🙂